Back then
by Idril Telperien
Summary: Alex falls in love with Jade and at last his life his going in the right direction and he is finaly happy. But nothing is ever that simple and when both their pasts catch up with them nothing will ever be the same again...
1. Preface

**Please review. It will get better.**

**Preface**

The hospital air was too clean. I couldn't breathe. The empty waiting room seemed to be mocking me. Pointing out just how alone I was in the world. I hated this waiting. I felt so useless, all I could do was sit and wait while doctors tried desperately to save the person I loved. It wasn't fair. After everything we had been through and survived, he couldn't die like this.

Suddenly the door opened and a grave looking doctor walked in.


	2. London

**Please review, I need constructive criticism. I know it's short but it's a start. The next chapter will be longer promise**

**London**

The rain was pouring as we touched onto the runway at Heathrow. Not that I was surprised, we were coming to rain country after all. I was already missing the Italian sun of my home. I waited patiently to be let off the plane. Both I and my mum were staring out of the window with desolate expressions on our faces. We came from Venice, the home of canals and beauty. London looked very different. My step- Dad, Mark had noticed.

"Oh, come on you two. You promised we would give it a go. You may even like it after a while." He smiled trying to bring some enthusiasm to us. It was for him that we were moving here, he had got a new job with, urgh, and I hated even saying the name. MI6. They were ruthless, dangerous and would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. Anyone was expendable to them. If I thought the Italian secret service was bad I had enougher thing coming with this lot. They even used a fourteen year-old boy working for them according to Cecilia, Mark's secretary back home. I smiled half heartedly and took my little sister Chrissie's hand as we finally got off the plane.

The airport terminal was just as bad. Dirty, smelly and busy! I just wanted my own bed with the balcony that looked over the river and all its magic. As I sat waiting for my case to come through I noticed a familiar looking boy talking to a pretty girl. It took me a while to recognise him but then I had only seen a photo of him on Mark's desk before now. His name was Alex Rider and he was the teenage boy who worked for MI6. I could just about hear their conversation.

"Alex, I really like you, you are my James Bond after all. But there's this boy back in the US. We're kind of together. I'm sorry." He looked kind of hurt but he had the look of someone who had lost so much that it was hard to care anymore. I turned away, not wanting to intrude.

That was when I noticed the two people watching my family. The first was watching Mark. He was a MI6 agent, I was sure of that fact. He was reading a newspaper with a long black coat on, like the one's you would wear to a funeral. The second was here for me. His name was Vladimir and he had been following me since I was little more than a baby. I felt sorry for him, having to move here because of me. He noticed me looking at him and smiled. We were used to each other. I wondered how he gad got his gun through security. There was probably a paid man on the desk. I moved making sure my jumper covered the tattoo on my wrist. The tattoo that gave me away for what I truly was. I was Frederic Matthias daughter; he was in prison for the murder of twenty innocent people. He was the Godfather and at fourteen I was one of the most powerful people in the mafia.


	3. Rider, Alex Rider

**Please Review. **

**2. Rider, Alex Rider.**

All secret service buildings look the same. No matter where they are in the world. It was a Saturday afternoon and I had been planning on going to Oxford Street and shopping with Mum but instead I was sitting in the waiting room just outside Alan Blunts office. He was the head of the special operations unit of MI6. I hadn't yet had the company of seeing him but I knew exactly what he would look like when I did meet him. He would be old but not look it. More like he would never age and never change. He would be quiet used to killing people- on both sides. I sometimes thought that people like him were more dangerous then the mafia. At least the mafia admitted what they did and were honest about it. And they were loyal to themselves. This lot did much the same but in the name of patriotism; you never knew how far you could trust the secret service before they would stab you in the back. Of course I was not dumb enough to air this opinion; the mafia were not the only people who watched me.

I was waiting patiently for Mark to finish talking to Mr Blunt so we could go. That was when I saw him. The boy from the airport. Alex Rider. He was walking into the room with an angry glare on his face. I would look like that if I was him walking into this room after everything these people had done to him and his family. I didn't know the details but I knew they had killed his family and manipulated him into working for him. He was about my age with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. He was seriously handsome even with his angry glare. I smiled at him and he looked taken aback by my presence. He came and sat down next to me.

"They got you too, did they?" His voice was shaking and his hands were curled into fists. "I can't believe they would do this to yet enougher person. Wreck yours like they wrecked mine."

"No, Alex, I'm here with my Dad on... other stuff but I'm sure as soon as they kill him I'll be doing it." I couldn't hide the resentment I felt towards Blunt and his world.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, momentarily distracted from his anger.

"You're kind of a legend." I smiled at him and he smiled back. God, he looked handsome when he smiled.

"Look, that lot will be in there forever and sitting out her does my nut in. Do you want to grab a coffee in the cafe across the road?" He kept his eyes away from mine. He looked nervous and ready for my blow off.

"Thought you'd never ask." I smiled at him and stood up. He looked so happy that I had agreed.

"Haven't you got a coat?" He asked when he saw that I was wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"I came from Venice; I didn't really need one there."

"Oh, here have my hoody. I've still got my denim jacket." He handed me his black hoody despite my objections. It felt nice and cosy. It was still warm from his body and I could smell his sent- it was a mix of cologne and soap. I loved it. Jesus Jade, stop turning into a stalker. I smiled at him and let him lead him out of the 'bank' and into the real world. It was refreshing to be out in the open and away from the world that I had been born into. We crossed the road and entered a small cafe. I loved it- the smells and the sights of a regular cafe after the sterile air of the 'bank'. We sat at a vacant table and ordered two coffees and two chocolate chip muffins. We sat in silence for a bit just smiling at each other.

"So what brings you to Blunts office then?" He smiled at me as he said that. His eyes looked older then his face as if he had seen way too much. That's what this life does to you.

"My Dad was stupid enough to get a job for Blunt and move our whole family back to England so that Blunt can kill him." I felt tears welling in my eyes, why was he so stupid. This was suicide. Patriotic suicide but he couldn't see that. "So what brings you to being a mini James Bond?"

"It's complicated. My uncle died and Blunt blackmailed me into working for him. He's nice like that." I could see the pain in his eyes even from where I was sitting. Before I even knew what I was doing I reached across and squeezed his hand. He smiled at me, that breathtaking smile.

"Who was the girl at the airport last week?" The question had been niggling at the back of my mind for a while.

"You sure you're not stalking me? She's called Sabina. She was my friend but she lives in America, she has a boyfriend there." The word set his teeth on edge.

"Then she's off her head." I muttered too quiet for him to hear.

"Come on, let's talk about something good. I'm sitting across from a hot girl and all I can talk about was my ex's and MI6. Where you living?" If I died now I would be happy. He thought I was hot!

"Chelsea, is it?" I hadn't quite got to grips with the London names. "Priola Road?"

"I live in Chelsea, the next road off Priola. We'll be seeing a lot of each other." He smiled at the thought of it. "Which school?"

"Brookland, I think it's called" I was dreading my first day of school, surrounded by obnoxious posh, English kids who would be asking awkward questions and looking down there nose at me.

"We will be seeing a lot of each other then. If you want I could show you round."

"That would be nice, I would be seriously grateful, it would be nice to know one person." He smiled at me and we chattered a bit more and had enougher coffee before we reluctantly headed back into the world that it seemed we would never shake off. But not before Alex invited me to come to the cinema with a bunch of his friends on Sunday night. We walked up the stairs together and went back to the seats we had occupied before. Mark was only just coming out of the office. With Blunt and his second in command- Mrs. Jones. It was hard not to feel the sense of smugness at how right I had been about him. He was exactly as I had pictured. Mrs Jones was younger than him with a dark, severe bob. She was sucking on a mint but from what Alex had said this was common.

"Jade this is Alan Blunt and Mrs Jones. This Alan is Jade Dinah." Alan looked me up and down and then extended his hand in my direction.

"It is a pleasure to meet you at last Miss. _Matthias_; I see you have met Mr Rider. We should really talk Miss. Matthias but as you see I need to chat to Alex. Maybe you could wait for a bit." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"Sorry I can't." I wasn't one for demands. "We don't need to. I'm not in with that. I never was. You can trust me that's why I call myself Jade _Dinah _not Matthias." I turned and walked away from Alan Blunt. It was probably the stupidest thing I had ever done in my life.

"Remember _Dinah I _will be watching you." Blunt called out but I carried on walking.

"See you tomorrow jade." Alex murmured as I walked past him. He smiled at me but I could see the confusion in his eyes. I owed him an explanation.

It was refreshing to be out in the open air with the breeze on my face after the stale air of the 'bank'. I decided to try my luck on the tube and meet mum in Oxford Street. I turned and noticed Vladimir on his motor bike watching a man who was watching me. Blunt hadn't been joking about watching me. I sighed and carried on walking towards the tube station. As I did so I pulled out a phone that even my mum knew nothing of. I pressed speed dial and was connected in seconds.

"We have a problem." I said in Italian to the person on the other end.


	4. Flight

**Disclaimer- sorry I completely forgot this last time but you have probably guessed I'm not Anthony Horowitz and I don't own Alex or any of the other characters. I need to apologise for the bad grammar and spelling that's been going on but my crap spell check didn't pick up on it. But the spell checks sorted so fingers crossed the spelling should be better. Please review as I love getting reviews and hearing your thoughts. X **

**P.S I know the mafia system doesn't work the way I describe but I need this for later in the story.**

**3. Flight.**

The white van was still outside the house. It had been there since I had got home last night and I was sure it would not leave this road until I did. I knew the van would contain two secret service men and all the necessary equipment to monitor my every movement. That meant it was impossible to reach Vladimir from the house. My only way was to get out of the house and somehow lose my followers. Slipping Alex's hoody on I walked out into the hallway where Chrissie was sitting.

"Still arguing?" I asked, not that I needed too. I could clearly hear Mark and Mum screaming at each other from the kitchen. I had never herd them argue like this before they were literally tearing chunks out of each other. Mum wanted to go home to Italy after the stunt Blunt was blatantly pulling in front of the house. Mark said it was my fault for disobeying Blunt in the first place and he would try to straighten things out with Blunt.

"If they ever remember they have two children tell them I went out." I looked down at my little sister. If I wasn't going out to meet a mafia operative I would have taken her with me. Instead I took her into my room and put her favourite CD on. Loud. As I walked down the stairs I caught words like 'divorce' and 'custody'. I had almost made it out the front door when I herd Mark.

"Well maybe if you hadn't got pregnant by the bloody Godfather none of this would have happened!"

"Well at least he treated me better than you do. He would never have made me move somewhere he knew I didn't want to go and put our daughter in danger because of a better salary!" Mum screamed back at him. I didn't think even the CD would shield my sister from this shouting match.

"SHE'S NOT EVEN MY DAUGHTER!" He screamed. It wouldn't have mattered if he had whispered the words. They cut just the same and caused the same horrible ache to rip across my heart because no mattered how many people I told or how much we pretended. Chrissie was his daughter and I wasn't. My Dad was serving life for murdering 20 people. I ran for the door and slammed it shut but no one herd. They were still screaming at each other and playing adults favourite game- who can hurt the other person more. I herd the van start moving when I was at the end of the road but I couldn't see it. My eyes were too full of tears to notice anything. I shook my head furiously and took a few deep breaths. I had to concentrate to pull this off.

Half an hour later I was in about the tenth clothes shop and having fun boring the men in the grey coats half to death. This shop was perfect. The changing rooms were on the other side of the shop to the men's clothes which would give me sufficient time to get away. I picked up a pair of jeans two sizes too big and headed to the changing rooms. A friendly shop assistant showed me to a free cubical and I went in. As quickly as I could I changed into the purple hoody I had bought with mum yesterday in Oxford Street. The one the secret service men would know nothing about and headed out with the hood pulled up over my face. As calmly as I could I walked out of the shop and round the corner. Yes! No one had followed me. I looked at my watch 3:14. Damn, I had exactly a minute to get to our meeting point at King's Cross tube station. I started sprinting towards it. I was a fast runner. It was my favourite sport because it suited my personality- I liked pushing myself and I liked being on my own. I was panting hard when I arrived outside the station and saw the black Mercedes parked on the other side of the road. Without a moments hesitation I sprinted across the road and into the open passenger side. The car started and we were in the next road before I turned to look at Vladimir. He was in his mid-twenties with pale skin and blond hair that was so pale it was almost white. He was Russian but had moved to Italy when he was a teenager with his mother and had been swept into the grimy mafia underworld when he was little older than me. He had been there when my Dad had murdered all those people. Seeing that had changed his view of the mafia and he had wanted out but when your in the mafia your in for life. So he had been given the task of minding the Godfather's daughter. I wasn't even meant to know about him let alone speak to him but that's us two. We don't play by the rules. He had given me the 'mafia' phone as we called it so that I could keep in touch with him.

"Blunt doesn't trust you then, Jade?" He asked with a hint of grim humour in his voice. He had a heavy Russian accent and his English was broken in places.

"No, He's watching the house and his goonies are following me everywhere. I had to give them the slip to meet you." I told him in Italian. He could speak it much better than English and since I couldn't speak Russian it was a good middle ground.

"I'd better be careful then or I'll get you in trouble with Blunt and your new boyfriend." He smirked at me. "Coffee with _the _Alex Rider. You have risen high in the world Jade. And seeing him tonight, why it must be love." He smirked at me. I always found it scary how Vladimir knew everything almost immediately.

"I take it you'll be there." It wasn't a question. He would be there after all he always was in the background whenever I was with my friends. It was way too much to ask for an unsupervised night.

"Yes but you won't have _all_ my attention. Maria in the house next to me is coming. It's a date. And we are going for dinner after so you will be alone with Alex in the Burger King." Frigging hell how did he know I was going to Burger King? I didn't even know I was going to burger king.

"You have a date with Maria? Congratulations! I thought you'd never take the plunge!" I thought of Maria. She lived opposite us and next to Vladimir. She seemed nice enough although she would never be good enough for Vladimir. No one ever would. He had the biggest heart you would ever know. He had only started working for my father to provide for his family. It was a mistake he would be paying for for the rest of his life. He was smiling at the thought.

"I herd from your Grandfather today. He wants to know how you are." My Grandfather was the acting Godfather until my Father got out of prison or I was old enough to take it over. Never going to happen. Ever. I don't want to be like them but it seems I don't have a choice in the matter. Suddenly I agree with Mark why Mum had to get pregnant by the frigging Godfather I'll never know. Vladimir drove me home and I reluctantly got out the car in the next road up so no one would see us. It was with a sense of dread I opened the door to the house but all was calm. For about half a second. Mark appeared in the hallway already fuming with me.

"Just where did you get too? We were worried about you. I go to Blunt and grovel so that you're not followed and I get back to find your mum franticly looking for you. " He went to hug me but I dodged him and headed for the stairs.

"Why? I'm not even your daughter." I hissed doing my best to disguise the pain in my voice.

"Oh Jade, you herd that. I'm sorry I was angry. I didn't mean it, I love you Jade. To me you are my daughter."

"I'm going out later so I have to get ready. It doesn't matter after all your right you're not my Dad." His face fell when I said that. Good. Now you know how it feels. I thought he would leave it at that but the persistent git followed me upstairs and into my room. Apologising and telling me how much I meant to him and how I was really his daughter after all he had been brining me up since I was a toddler. Suddenly, despite my best efforts to put on a cold front I burst into tears. Mark hugged me tight against his chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He kept repeating over and over again. I felt cool hands gently stroking my hair and knew instantly that my mum was sitting on my other side. I looked up and saw that Mark had his arms round both of us. "I'm sorry, for everything. We can go back to Venice on the next fight we can get."

"No." Mum shook her head. "We said we would try it for a few months and we will." I jumped up sensing what would happen next.

"Out!" I commanded. "If you want to make out do it in your own room."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I met Alex at half six at the bottom of my road. I was still wearing his hoody. It was warmer than the one I bought.

"Hi, Dinah or is it Matthias tonight?" He asked as he approached me. He was smiling that smile I loved and as we walked to the train station he put his arm round my shoulders.

"Dinah just Dinah. Mark is my step-Dad and my real Father and Blunt have some history. That's all." I quickly explained. But he was shaking his head.

"You don't have to tell me anything Jade. I'm just here if you need to talk. I know what its like to take on Blunt."

We talked about light hearted things all the way to the cinema. When we got there 0he introduced me to his friend Tom and Tom's new girlfriend Lorie. They were nice and we had a laugh as we waited for the movie to start. As always Vladimir was in the background. Like he had and always would be but tonight it didn't bother me as much as it usually did. He had Maria and I had my new friends.

"You look really pretty tonight." Alex told me as the lights started to go down.

"Thanks, your not to bad yourself." I replied smiling into his brown eyes.

"If you want we could always go to the cinema again? Just the two of us?" Hell yes! Be cool Jade, don't seem _too_ keen.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Vladimir sniggered behind me but nothing could dampen my mood. Maybe London wasn't that bad after all.


	5. Brookland

**4. Brookland. **

I hate alarms. Especially when they go off at seven on Monday mourning. I lay there pretending to be oblivious to the wails that came out of the small machine and moved further down into the warmth of my duvet. Exactly one minute and thirty seconds later the duvet was pulled off me and my Mum was stood over me.

"Get up! It's your first day do you really want to be late?" Reluctantly I pulled myself up and headed off to the bathroom. I turned the shower on and got under the hot water. It was nice and relaxing and I spent way too long in there. The calmness that the hot water had caused evaporated as soon as I put on Brookland's uniform. In Venice we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted but Brookland's uniform was ugly and uncomfortable. It consisted of black, tailored trousers, a white shirt with a blue tie that cut my airways off, an itchy grey jumper and a blue blazer with shoulder pads that had gone out in the eighties. I made sure I stayed away from any mirrors in the house. My only consolation was that everyone else would look exactly the same. How the hell were you meant to find anyone when you all looked identical?

As I was finishing my toast the doorbell went. Mum went to answer it and came back with a huge gin on her face.

"There's someone here to see you jade." She said in her posh accent that only came out when we had company.

"Who?" I asked mildly curious as to who would be calling at this time. Then Alex walked into the kitchen. My heart missed several beats as it took in the perfection of his handsome face. Then the jealousy set in- how could he look so perfect in his uniform where as I knew I looked terrible from the way my sister was sitting sniggering at me. "Alex! What are you doing here?" I asked trying-and probably failing- to hide the excitement I had that he was here.

"I thought you might like someone to talk to on the way in. Seeing as it's your first day and everything."

"Yeah, that would be great." And with that I stood up and followed Alex to the front door.

"Wait, I've got your jacket upstairs I'll just..."

"No." He cut me off mid-sentence. "It just looked so good on you I don't think I could possibly see myself in it.

As we walked we chatted harmlessly as he told me about the teachers and his friends and the lessons. All the while I could feel this kind of electric energy between us. I wondered if he could feel it as well. When we got to the imposing red brick buildings I stopped dead. I had never been quite so scared in my life. When he realised that I was not by his side he came back to my side and gently put his hand on my arm and smiled his breathtaking smile. The combination of the fireworks shooting up my arm and his perfectly formed lips proved almost fatal to my weak and susceptible heart.

"It will be OK I'm here and Lorie and Tom will be around when there not off snogging in the storeroom. We English don't bite in fact on occasions we are nice." He moved his hand slowly from the top of my arm to my hand and squeezed it gently before pulling me towards one of the red buildings. It was nice having his hand in mine and his comforting words rolling round in my head. The fact he seemed to care about me made my head spin with the possibilities. I wondered if he felt the same way as I did.

He kept holding my hand until we got into the form room. As promised Tom and Lorie were snogging each other. Tom was seriously short with spiky black hair and a dangerous sense of humour. His girlfriend was a lot taller than him which made them look a funny pair. She had honey coloured hair which was pulled back into a pony tail. When she had finished sucking Tom's face off, she noticed us and came bounding over to me. I smiled it seemed I had made my first proper girl friend. Alex let go off my hand and leaned down towards me. His lips were centimetres from my ear and with it my heart was somersaulting like a professional gymnast.

"I better go check Tom is still breathing but I'll be back soon. I promise. And anyway Lorie will look after you. She seems to really like you." He let his lips linger by my skin for a bit longer before moving off towards Tom. Lorie was standing open mouthed. And she wasn't the only one. The whole of my new class was staring at me. Half because I was the new girl and half because of what had happened between me and Alex. I was probably red from head to feet. Then Lorie came over and squealed quietly in my ear.

"So you're the one that caught the hottest, most mysterious boy at Brookland and you haven't even been in England a week. All the girl's will either want to kill you or be your best friend. There all bitches."

"Whoa, Alex and me, we're not an item. And I thought you were with Tom?"

"I am but Alex Rider is the Hottie of Brookland. And all those absences well as they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But you do like him." I nodded. "And he likes you I could feel it last night and he's watching you now." I looked over and true to her word Alex and Tom were watching us.

"He asked me if I wanted to go out just us two and he walked me to school." I told her going over all the details in my mind and trying to see it as clearly as Lorie did.

"No!" She squealed her eyes lit up with excitement. "Well there you are. I bet that by his birthday, you will be buying a card saying 'To my love!'" I laughed at the thought but secretly my heart was jumping at the possibilities.

"It's his birthday soon?" I asked trying to sound casual.

"Yeah the 30th of January. Why thinking of taking him somewhere romantic?" She giggled girlishly. It was odd back in Venice I would have hated to hang out with someone like Lorie but she was so nice and I was finding her company seriously enjoyable.

"You're worse then Vladimir!" I complained.

"Who?"

"My uncle." I told her without a moment's hesitation. I was so used to lying to people it was second nature. At that moment Alex came back and put his hand protectively on my arm. I smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"You OK?" He asked gently rubbing his hand up and down my arm. It was weird once the fireworks died down it felt natural as if I needed it like I needed water and food. Dear God, I had finally cracked.

"Yeah, you didn't tell me it was your birthday soon." I smiled up into those dark eyes. He smiled back at me and gently ran his finger across my cheek.

"Let me guess, Lorie filling you in on everything. Yeah it's the 30th. Why? Are you thinking of buying me a present?" He asked smiling at me.

"Maybe I will." I smiled as I moved my head so that the light through the windows hit me just so. It was at that point that the teacher walked in and I was swept along with the slamming of desks and the ringing bells. All the while Alex never left my side. Vladimir was finding it hilarious. Somehow- and God only knew how- he had got a job cleaning at the school and was always laughing and smirking when Alex and I walked past him.

It was as we all left the maths room (God, maths last thing on a Monday afternoon. What a way to start the week.) That Alex invited me back to his place. Lorie and Tom would be there and we could just hang out.

It was such a great afternoon. We just hung out and chatted about crap. All the while I sat between Lorie and Alex and when Lorie and Tom were kissing we went into the kitchen and chatted over a coke.

"You know what I was saying the other day. About us going out to see a film or something. Well are you busy on Saturday? I was thinking we could get a bite to eat and see a movie? You game?" He looked so nervous as he asked me which made it all seem better. He felt exactly as I did.

"What like a date?" Please say yes, please say yes.

"Yeah, like a date." He hadn't looked into my eyes since we started this conversation.

"I'd like that. A lot." He looked up and grinned at me.

"I'll pick you up around six." I couldn't believe it. I had a date with Alex Rider!


	6. confessions

**Thank you so much for all the reviews and everything. Hope you like the next chapter. There is a lot of background here so you can understand a bit more about Jade's life.**

**5. Confessions.**

It happened on the Friday. My first week had come to an end and I couldn't have been happier with living here. Alex and I had quickly become the talk of the school as we were spending every spare second together. Lorie was sure that we would be together by the time the salad came. He always walked me to school which was why I was kind of worried when he failed to show up. I went to his house but no one was in. So I walked to school on my own fully expecting Alex to be there with some apology that he had forgotten to tell me he had to be at school early or something to that effect. But he wasn't there.

"This will be the only problem you have going out with him." She talked like it was a certain fact and she assured me it was- I liked her way of thinking. "He is always off ill. Not that any of us believe that he's ill. There are lots of rumours about him which makes him all the more mysterious. He's been here a lot recently though." I felt sick. I knew exactly where he had been when he was off 'sick'. No, Mark had said that Blunt was leaving Alex alone from now on. But this was Blunt he never kept his word. I was agitated all day and desperate to get round to Alex's as soon as the bell went. I was praying he would be there saying he had a cold or something. Did a cold stop you from answering the phone? Where the hell was Jack? What if they had deported her? My mind was whirling with possibilities. Tom noticed and knowing the truth as well tried to keep my spirits up. He failed miserably. When the bell went I shot out of class and practically sprinted down the road to his house. It was pouring with rain and I was soaked before I had even left the school gates.

When I finally got there the house was in darkness and Jack's car wasn't on the drive. I rang the doorbell but no one answered. In the end I just sat on the porch getting soaked through to wait for someone to come back. I was sitting there for over half an hour before a cab drew up outside the house. It was impossible to see through the curtain of rain who it was but I stood up praying for a miracle. The cab pulled away and the person turned to head into the house. My prayers had been answered.

"ALEX!" I screamed and wrapped my arms round him before bursting out crying.

"Jade, you're soaked. What wrong?" He gently pulled me into the house and shut the door. It was only when I was in the room that I realised how cold I was. I was shaking violently and I couldn't feel my feet. "Jade you're going to catch your death. Go and take a shower and we'll talk after. Ok?" I nodded as he led me upstairs to his bedroom. "The bathrooms the next door along. Here's a towel." He handed me a white towel from the cupboard by his room and left me to it. I undressed and left my soggy clothes in a pile in his room before going into the bathroom and turning on the shower so it was boiling. It felt so relaxing to have the water falling all around me. When I was sure all my body was back to the normal temperature I reluctantly turned the water off and pulled the towel round me. I headed to the bedroom to put on my clothes although I was reluctant to do so. They would be sopping wet. That was when I noticed they were gone. I was about to yell at Alex when I noticed the pile of clothes and a hairdryer on the bed. On top was a note-

_I put your clothes in the washing machine. Here are some more. And a hairdryer so you don't catch your death._

_A_

I smiled and began pulling on the clothes- a pair of jeans and a long sleeve, faded green top. They smelt like the hoody. I loved that smell, his smell. Then I plugged the hair dryer in and started drying my long black hair in his mirror. His room was pale blue with a white carpet; it had that kind of homey feel that I wanted my room to have. Eventually I was ready to see him.

He was in the kitchen making two mugs of hot chocolate. That was when I noticed the cast on his left arm. So that was why he had missed school and I had almost died of pneumonia.

"Hey, how are you now? What was up earlier?" He came and put his arms around me holding me against his chest.

"You'll laugh." I murmured into his top.

"Jade, I saw the state you were in. I would not laugh at that. What had you that scared you couldn't go home?" He gently steered me towards the sofa and held me for while, while I built up the strength to speak.

"You weren't at school and I assumed Blunt had sent you on some mission somewhere and you would be killed."

"So you came round and when you found the house empty you decided to wait in the rain for Jack or me to come. When really I broke my arm falling down the stairs and was in casualty all day. I was just coming back from your house in the cab."

"If anything had happened to you. I know the bad guys in this world Alex." I took a deep breath. "I am one of the bad guys."

"Please tell me you're joking, jade." The pain in his face was horrible to watch. "I mean your Dad is a spy how can you be bad?"

"My _step-_father is a spy. My Dad's name is Freddie Matthias." God I hated that name.

"Should that mean something to me?" I could hear the venom and confusion in his voice.

"It depends how much you know about the Mafia." No, that word was worse.

"Jesus! The mafia! Hang on isn't Freddie Matthias the Godfather who is in jail for..."

"For murdering 20 people and holding his fiancée and baby daughter hostage." I cut in. Suddenly I felt his arms around me.

"You're the baby girl. That doesn't make you bad Jade." He whispered into my hair.

"You haven't heard the entire story yet." I took a deep breath and began. "My mum's only half Italian. Her father was English so she spent most of her childhood between Italy and England. When she was seventeen they moved to Naples. At that point the then Godfather, my Grandfather lived there. My Mum met and fell in love with my father but he left out the small detail of being in the mafia. He was eighteen and had come of age to become the next Godfather so he was being taught the life skills a gangster needs. My mum became pregnant and soon after she learnt the truth from one of the lower ranking member's of the mafia- Vladimir. She should have left him then and there but she loved him and wanted to make it work for my sake. Freddie's father disapproved of the match between them so he decided to split them up once and for all. So for Freddie's first assassination mission he had to kill my Mum's father. And he did. It was then that she couldn't kid herself that it would work anymore. So she turned him into the police and gave the evidence to the jury. She had an FLO- family liaison officer all through the court case. He was a young, British expat called Joe. They fell in love and everything looked like it was going up. But then Freddie got away with it. The jury was paid off by his father. It meant that Mum had to go into hiding and Joe went with her. They changed their names and they changed their appearance and got on with their lives. And when Maria Cartwright and her fiancé Paul Brown had a little girl called Eve they thought that their lives were perfect. And it was good for three years. They were a normal couple getting married but Freddie had never stopped hunting her. And on her wedding day he found her.

Him and a small group of his gangsters came in and opened fire. They killed eighteen people outright and injured most of the guests- including Paul. He took me and mum and headed towards the registrars' office but one of the men- Vladimir got in his way and was shot. We were in there for a few hours while there was a huge shot out between the police and Freddie and his men. Two policemen were killed, both by Freddie. He was caught and jailed.

Mum, Paul and I were put back in the witness protection scheme. We got new names- Katherine, Mark and Jade Dinah- and were relocated back to Italy.

That's why Blunt doesn't trust me. He thinks I'm in touch with the mafia. And I am. The gangster who tried to save me, Vladimir. He wanted out of the mafia but that wasn't going to happen so instead he was given an assignment no one else wanted. To watch over me. Of course I wasn't meant to know about it but it wasn't hard to guess when you saw the same man day in day out for all your life. So I cornered him and he told me the truth. He gave me a phone so that we could keep in touch always. Any questions?" I didn't know when I had started crying during my story but now I couldn't stop. Alex pulled me against his chest and rocked me back and forth gently while wiping away the tears from cheeks.

"It's alright. You're not the only one with a past." He whispered and suddenly began telling me everything from his Uncle's death right up till now. Through all the missions he had been on and all the horrible things that had happened to him. He told me everything even about his parents and something told me that I was one of a very select number of people who had heard this. When he told me how his Godfather had betrayed his parents tears started falling quietly down his cheeks. I had never seen him so vulnerable before. And I guess no one had ever seen me this vulnerable before. It was like we were both opening up like we had never done before. I felt freer then I had ever felt before. I leaned up and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks like he had done earlier. As I went to move my hand away from his face he caught it and brought it back to his lips. Gently, he kissed each of my fingers.

"I love you Jade." He whispered to my fingers.

"I love you too, Alex." Finally he met my gaze and I saw in his deep pupils the same burning desire that I felt for him. Slowly I moved my head forward and he met me halfway. The feel of his lips on mine was like nothing I could ever had imagined-and believe me I had been imagining it for days- I could feel all his passion and his love in that single touch. As our arms wrapped around each other the tears slowly subsided. And our pasts and the rest of the world slowly faded away.


	7. Rider girl

**Thank you so much for all the reviews I have got, I really appreciate them. This is your chapter David- I always promised to name a gangster after you. So here you are not just any Gangster but the Godfather.**

**6. Rider girl.**

We were still kissing when Jack came home. One of Alex's hands was wrapped around my waist pulling me closer to his body and the other was continuously running through my black hair. My hands were both in his hair pulling him closer to me. Neither of us noticed Jack come in, in fact we only realised she was there when she was standing over us.

"Have you called an ambulance?" She asked with a grin on her face. "Sorry I thought you were giving mouth to mouth. Um, have we met? I'm Jack, Alex's guardian." Jack held out a hand for me to shake. Although I had been at her house all the week I had never met her. She had flame red hair that was tied back away from her pretty, tomboyish face.

"Jack this is Jade, She's my girlfriend." He stated happily, he hadn't even had to ask me the question. We both knew the answer.

"It's nice to meet you, Jack." I smiled and held out my hand. My heart was slamming against my ribcage as I waited for her response. I was so desperate for her to like me.

"Girlfriend?! Well that's brilliant! At the rate you were going I thought you would be getting married to Blunt!" She laughed and shook my hand. I laughed along with her while Alex went red.

"I think I should be worried, Alex. I've heard a lot about your special relationship with Blunt." I laughed. It felt so natural teasing him and watching that magical smile appear on his face.

"From who?"

"Tom!" We said at exactly the same time.

"What did he say?" Alex asked pulling me back on the couch so that I was sitting next to him.

"Oh, how I shouldn't go out with you because you and Blunt are in a very happy relationship and no matter how much I like you I should not stoop so low as to be a home wrecker." We both laughed and Alex absently flicked through the TV channels while whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

"Would you like to stay for tea, Jade?" Jack asked coming back into the room and smiling at me.

"Yes thanks that would be lovely." With that she disappeared into the kitchen to make us something to eat. As soon as she had gone Alex slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me against his chest. I turned my face up towards his and his lips came crashing down onto mine. I moved my hands up to his hair and pulled him close to me. There was a part of me that was telling me that this was a bad idea- Jack was in the next room and I was still trying to make a good impression but that was only a small part of me and the rest of me was begging for more.

"Dinner is ready!" Jack called from the Kitchen, obviously not wanting to come back into the room without warning us first. Dinner was lasagne and it was lovely. It had that homely feel that my Mum's cooking always seemed to lack. Alex and I sat next to each other and we were constantly smiling at each other and laughing at stupid jokes. Jack found it funny and she seemed to genuinely like me.

It was half seven before I decided I should probably leave although I really didn't want to go home. It was my parent's anniversary and they would be out till late and Chrissie was at one of her precocious little friends. Which was why I was glad when Alex offered to walk me home. We held hands as we walked the short distance to my house.

"I've got something to show you." I said at last.

"What is it?" He asked as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I pulled him under the glare of a street lamp and pulled my hoody up so that my bare wrist was under the white light. There were the two crossing daggers that had been tattooed on my wrist during the siege on my parents wedding day.

"What is it?" Alex asked as he gently traced the outline with his thumb.

"It's my families crest. Which makes it the mafia's crest. It shows everyone what I am." I whispered looking at his pure angelic face as I spoke.

"No, it shows what you escaped from." Gently he brought my wrist up to his lips and re-traced the tattoo with his lips. It felt magical and I felt tears forming in my eyes at how kind he was. "So your real names Eve. Do you know why they called you Eve?"

"I was born on Christmas Eve but I don't really think of Eve as my name. I was so young when it was changed that I don't really remember ever being called it. Do you why I'm called Jade?" I asked not expecting him to answer.

"It's because your eyes look like jades in the sunlight."

"You noticed." I was so happy he had noticed the colour of my eyes in the sun that I felt a huge smile burst onto my face. He laughed and kissed me lightly on my lips.

"So you are in witness protection but the mafia know where you are." He looked at me with confusion in his eyes. "Let me guess, complicated."

"Yeah. The witness protection is to protect us from my Dad and they think by making sure the mafia doesn't know where I am then my father won't know. But it doesn't matter whether they know because they won't tell him. My Grandfather, David Matthias has disowned him. Not publically of course because the mafia stand for family and loyalty and if he says that he has disowned his son and has no heir but a teenage girl who lives with a secret service spy then the mafia would probably get rid of him. And when they get rid of you you're not coming back. So he puts up the pretence that he still cares for his son but he has privately disowned him and seeing as he will be in prison until his death all his hopes are on me. That's why he is watching me. To make sure I am safe, looked after and most importantly I am ready to become the Godfather when I come of age. He would not risk my safety by ever telling my father or those that are loyal to him where I am."

"So that means you're safe. I don't care what else that means as long as it keeps you safe." He pulled me close and hugged me. "You're cold. Come on lets get you home." He kept one arm wrapped around my waist and we walked slowly up my road. Neither of us were in any hurry to part after our afternoon spent together but no matter how slow we walked we were at my house all too soon.

"Do you want to come in?" Please say yes.

"Is your Dad in?" Alex asked. I smiled as I saw how scared he was at the prospect of meeting Mark. I shook my head.

"No ones in. There not going to be home until late."

"Go on then. I wouldn't want you to be lonely." He gave me his smile and let me lead him up my path and into the dark house. I flicked on the light and shut the door. "Nice place. You were cute when you were a baby." He said as he looked at a picture of me and my mum when I was about three.

"Better now?" I asked, watching as he looked me up and down and then back at the picture as if he was actually deliberating my question.

"Much better." He murmured as he pulled me against his body and kissed my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. I didn't think I would ever get used to the feeling as his lips crashed onto mine, as his tongue found its way into my mouth. Eventually I had to pull away from him to get some oxygen back into my starved lungs. "I'm glad your dads not home. I think he would kill me for that."

"I'll protect you. Come on, do you want to watch a video; I have the perfect one for you? We have popcorn." I looked at him hopefully. I always hated being home alone, every noise scared me and I was always waiting for Freddie to come through the door.

"Well if there's popcorn then I'm staying." we made popcorn and settled down on the loveseat in the corner of the living room. I smiled as I put on the perfect movie while he tried to guess what it was.

"Ok, I give up. What are we watching?" He asked exasperated.

"I'll give you a clue." I then did the legendary moves and sang the theme tune to James Bond. He fell about laughing and beckoned for me to come back and sit with him. He laughed and pulled his arms round me. We watched the film for the first ten minutes while Alex sat there stroking my hair. But when you're sitting next to your boyfriend a movie can't keep you entertained for long. I turned round in his arms and kissed him gently. He wound his arms around my waist and moved his lips to the base of my neck and kissed me gently all the way up to my lips. Laughing quietly as he did it.

"Tonight has been the best night of my life." He whispered.

"I love you Alex Rider." I whispered in between his kisses.

"You should. After all you're my rider girl." I laughed and pulled his face towards mine. We spent the rest of the evening contently curled up in each others arms.


	8. Cheer

**Lyd- I used the nickname you came up with, you may remember the song!!I know this chap is a bit crap but give it a go as had such a good idea for the next part of the story- I hope you will enjoy it!**

7. Cheer.

I woke up late on the Saturday after staying up till the early hours of the mourning with Alex watching James Bond. Well kissing and making jokes about Bond. I had been worried about him walking home so late and made him text me as soon as he had got in. True to his words three minutes later I got a text-

**Home safe. Hope u ave sweet dreams 2nite I know I will.**

**Xxx**

I felt the mafia phone vibrate on the table in front of me. Reluctantly I picked it up reluctantly after all it was too much to ask for, for a night off from my murky underworld.

"Hello Vlad." I mumbled in annoyance.

"Hey! Nice to hear from you too! What now you've got a beau I am nothing to you. Well that's nice!"

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!" I felt kind of bad for being mean to Vladimir.

"How was your evening with Alex? Were you well behaved?" He asked sarcastically.

"Good." I saw the car headlights of our car through the window. "Shit, Mum's home! Bye!" I ended the call and shot up the stairs into my room just as the door opened. I threw myself under the duvet and lay there pretending to be asleep but I knew that I would spend the rest of the night reliving every kiss and every touch.

It was eleven when I woke up in the mourning. The sun was coming through a crack in the curtains. There was a note on my bedside table from my mum-

Called into work angel, be back around four

There is some food in the fridge.

Mum xxx

That was good. It meant I had the whole house to myself so that I could spend hours getting ready for my first official date with Alex. Only seven hours to go! To kill time I jumped in the shower and washed my hair to within an inch of its life. Before throwing on my favourite grey top and a pair of washed out jeans. They were the kind of clothes that really need to be thrown out as they were full of holes but were so comfortable that I kept them to wear round the house. I was watching some crappy day time TV show when the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find Alex stood on my doorstep in his football strip.

"Sorry but I couldn't wait to see you again." He told me with that familiar smile on his face. I threw my arms round him and kissed his beautiful, soft lips. "I take it you've missed me too?"

"I've been counting down the minutes until I see you again. It would have been..."

"Six hours, twenty nine minutes and thirty seconds. Kidding I'm not obsessed with you that much to know the seconds."

"Well you should be." I did my best pout impression and he burst out laughing before kissing me again. I leaned in towards his ear before whispering in his ear in my sexiest voice. "Did you have sweet dreams last night?"

"Yeah I did. You and Blunt featured highly in them." We both burst out laughing and I lay my head against his shoulder so I could breathe in his beautiful scent. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to a football match I'm playing at this afternoon. You could keep Lorie and the other cheerleading girlfriends company."

"I would love to. What times kick off?" I felt honoured that he had asked me.

"I have to be there for half twelve but kick off is at one." He smiled at me and it was clear how happy he was that I was coming.

"Well that gives us an hour before we have to make a move so give me a minute to change into something that won't scare the other team and then we can pick up where we left off last night." I smiled before kissing him quickly and heading off upstairs. Then came the challenge of finding something to wear; it had to be casual for the football field but not too casual. In the end I chose some black jeans and a red t-shirt under Alex's hoody.

"What do you think?" I asked twirling as I entered the living room.

"Hot as always." He smiled before pulling me onto the sofa and kissing me on the lips. "So shall we get back to where we left off last night?"

"You honestly have to ask." I laughed before kissing him again and feeling fireworks on the skin underneath his hands which were on the small of my back and wound round my neck. The next hour was spent in much the same way with a bit of talking in between before we had to go to the game.

I was worried about going to the game. There would be all the other girlfriends there on the side lines that had already made it perfectly clear that I was not welcome. Alex didn't seem to notice my nerves and happily chatted about positions and football shoes. I was almost glad when Tom took Alex away to warm up.

"Hey!" Lorie squealed pulling me into a quick hug. "So Alex invited you to the game and whoa! Did he give you that love bite?!"

"Shit, is it that obvious?" I asked pulling my hair down across my neck.

"Tell me everything." She demanded. And I did. It was something I had never dreamed if before, telling someone all my feelings about someone and letting them know everything.

"Wow you did have a productive evening. So, are you still going out tonight?"

"Hell yeah. I've already got withdrawal symptoms already. How long does the game last?"

"Ninety minutes, idiot. The only reason I come is because the lads look hot in shorts. Especially Alex."

"I noticed. What do you think I was doing while he was talking about the off side rule." We both fell about laughing before watching the start of the game. She was right. All the boys look fit with their muscles showing. Although mostly I was watching Alex running up and down the pitch with his shirt sticking to him.

"OI! I am here. I know I am not as hot as your boyfriend but pay us some attention!"

"Sorry. He just looks so hot." I drooled before realising quite how addicted to him I really was.

"That's fine; I was like that when Tom and I started dating. Come to think of it I still am!" We spent the rest of the first half laughing and planning my outfit for tonight. Then during half time some of the other girlfriends came over with totally fake smiles on their faces.

"HI! I haven't seen you around here before. You're the new girl aren't you? Looking for a boyfriend? Mine's the dark haired striker he's called Aaron." In other words piss off you sad cow and keep your filthy Italian hands off my man.

"Yeah this is Jade and she doesn't need your Aaron. She's Alex's new girlfriend." Lorie came instantly to my defence.

"As in Rider?"

"Yeah, Alex is my boyfriend." I smiled as I saw quite how jealous that made her. She opened her mouth to make a comment but then groaned.

"What?" I asked.

"You see those girls over there, June? The ones in the little skimpy cheerleader outfits. They come to the games to support there boyfriends and do these ridiculous sexy cheers which get all the boys under the collar." She hissed angrily as the cheerleaders started a routine and most of the boys turned to watch them in awe.

"Why don't you beat them at their own game and do something yourself?"

"Because we are not cheerleaders and don't know what to do. They do cheerleading at there school."

"We did cheerleading at my old school in Italy and I can remember some of the routines." It was a memory I had tried to erase from my mind but they had refused to go.

"Can you teach us, June?"

"Yes and my name is jade."

"I'm Claire." With that I began teaching them the basics and formulated an easy routine. The girls were good at it but we could all feel the glares of the other girls as the attention was taken away from them. Eventually they cracked and shouted across the pitch to us.

"OI! Come on then and show us what you got!" And with that they started a very inappropriate dance for a Saturday afternoon in the park.

"We can show them." Claire hissed obviously enraged by Aaron's ogling eyes. "1, 2, 3..." I felt sick as I thought of Alex seeing this. We had no music like the others so we had made up a little song to dance too.

"**Brookland extra,**

**Read all about it,**

**We're gonna win there's,**

**No doubt about it!"**

The boys went wild and it seemed to give them new oomph during the second half. We won 4-1 and Alex scored two. I felt so proud of him and couldn't wait to tell him that. We were all chatting about how well the cheerleading had gone when the boys came running over.

"Whoa! You girls were hot!"

"How did you do that?!"

"Shit, that was good!"

"Oh, it was all jade. She used to be a cheerleader in Italy." Claire told them before putting her arm around me like we were best buddies.

"Oh, so this is Jade. Alex's new bird." Aaron whistled in appreciation and a few of the guys nodded to the annoyance of their girlfriends. I felt myself go red but Alex came to my rescue.

"Now boys. You had your chance, she's mine now." He laughed before putting his arms around me and kissing my neck. "Shall we make a move?" He asked and I nodded desperate to get away from these people. We said goodbye to the others before heading off. We hadn't got far when he asked "Cheerleader?"

"I tried to wipe it from my memory. It was my mum's idea to make friends."

"Do you have a hot cheerleading outfit?" He asked pulling me closer to his sweaty football top. I loved the feel of being close to him even though he was hot and sweaty.

"Yes, it's red and very, very short." I laughed thinking about the shot red contraption that I still had in my wardrobe.

"I will have to see that. I bet your legs look very good. I have never seen them out of jeans." He said wistfully.

"You were amazing! I was so proud of you!" I told him before giving him a congratulatory kiss. All the boys whistled but I couldn't care less.

"Look I have to go." I told him reluctantly as we got closer to my house.

"Why?" He asked kissing my fingertips.

"Because I have two hours to get ready for our date! And maybe if you're good I will show you that dress." I taunted him before kissing him goodbye and running towards my house. I smiled as I thought of tonight and then cursed as I saw Marks car outside the house. I had forgotten to warn Alex that Mark would be there tonight. Shit this was going to be awkward. All I could hope was that he had left his gun in the office.


	9. Meet the parents

**I have been trying to call the last two chapters Meet the parents but other things have always come up so I finally get to write it. **

**8. Meet the parents.**

It was quarter to six and I was still debating which outfit to wear. It was between the sensible and the sexy. I was leaning towards the sexy which was a short and flimsy dress that showed off the legs that Alex was desperate to see. On the other hand it was a very cold night and so the jeans would be better if I was trying not to get hypothermia. Oh sod it; it was the sexy dress as I was desperate to see Alex drool. I was a bundle of nerves as both my parents were downstairs and desperate to meet the boy that had me in such a state of nerves. Well I say meet but in Mark's case it was more meet and destroy. Luckily his gun was still in the office but I was sure he could throw a decent punch.

The doorbell rung at six exactly and I shot down the stairs to answer it before anyone else got there. I threw opened the door and thought about running out the door and leaving with Alex but I knew that was a bad idea. So begrudgingly I asked him in and he stumbled in almost knocking over the table as his eyes were fixed on my bare legs.

"Jesus Christ, they were worth the wait." I smiled knowing that I had put on the right outfit. It was a short green dress with smell straps and swirls on that reached my knee. Just. I moved my tanned legs so the light hit them just so. He nearly fainted.

"You like what you see?" I asked as I moved in for a kiss.

"Hell yes." Was all he managed before I silenced him with my lips. "My parents are here. They want to meet you." I told him when we came up for air.

"Shit. Do you reckon we could slip out? No, I need to make a good impression. One question: does he have a gun?" He took my laughter as a no and followed me into the living room where my parents were pretending to watch a comedy show but were really listening to our every move in the hall. Mark stood up as we came in and shook Alex's hand.

"It's nice to see you again, Alex." He said politely before beckoning Alex to sit down next to him. Alex did what he was told and I sat next to him for support. "So you two are going out, then?"

"Yeah we are." Alex answered back bravely. I tried to hide the groan that I could feel coming as I thought of the Spanish inquisition that was only round the corner.

"For how long?"

"Since yesterday."

"And what happened yesterday?"

"Um, nothing much, sir. We just talked and stuff." Alex looked seriously nervous and was being uncharacteristically polite.

"Talked?"

"Yes, sir. All we did was talk."

"Where are you taking her tonight?"

"To the cinema and out for something to eat?"

"When will you be back?"

"Oh, honestly Mark lay off the poor boy." My mum came to Alex's rescue, who looked like he was seriously considering jumping out the window.

"Just checking him over." Mark told her.

"Come on Alex we should really go." I said as I tried to get him safely out the house before anyone else laid into him.

"Yeah we should." He agreed with a sigh of relief. "It was nice to meet you."

"I'll be home later." I told my mum before running out of the house with Alex hot on my heels.

"Jesus, they are very protective." Alex said as he pulled me into a tight embrace when we were safely out of sight of my house.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I will make it up to you, somehow." I told him as I buried my head into his sweet smelling neck.

"I can think of a way." He whispered as he ran his hands through my hair.

"I think I can guess what it is." I leant up towards his face on tiptoes and gently kissing his soft lips. I was familiar with his lips by now. I knew how they moved and how I could get him to react. I felt so safe with his arms around me tight. I had never felt so happy before. "Am I forgiven for letting Mark loose on you?"

"Almost. One more kiss and I am putty in your hand." He promised me.

"We'll see then." I leant back up and allowed that dreamlike quality I had when we were kissing together.

"We really should go or we will miss the film."

"So am I forgiven for Mark?"

"Mark who?" He laughed before taking my hand and leading me towards the tube station.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What shall we see?" Alex asked me as we looked at the list of films on the screen behind the sweet counter.

"That new James Bond one?" I asked sarcastically.

"There is a Godfather remake on." He quipped back.

"How 'bout a comedy or a soppy romantic film?"

"No soppy romantic comedies."

"Not even for me?"

"Not even for you but a comedy sounds good."

"Well there is either the one about the Russian assassin who goes to Greece on holiday or the Mr. Bean film. Which is it?"

"Mr. Bean has to be. He is a legend."

"I would never have thought it. Alex Rider a Mr. Bean fan." We paid for our tickets and bought some popcorn to share before going into one of the many screens and trying to find our seats. We had been put in the back row which according to Alex was the snogging row.

The film was quite funny. Well the first ten minutes were but after that we decided to honour the snogging row's time honoured traditions and spent the entire film kissing each other. It was good that everyone around us was doing the same or we could have seriously annoyed someone who was watching it.

After the movie Alex took me to a pizzeria place around the corner from the multiplex. It was buried down a small backstreet and had a cosy feel due to the smallness of the restaurant.

"My uncle used to take me here as a treat when he came home from one of his assignments. I miss him a lot it's just not the same having no other man around the house. I know he was never there but he was my uncle. And because of him I had to do some awful things but I do have one thing to be thank him for."

"Which is?"

"The first time I saw you was in Blunt's office."

"Soppy idiot."

"It was though. It was love at first sight." He pulled me towards him. "Shit, this is all your fault. I was never this corny before I met you."

"I should be arrested." I laughed as we were led to a small table in the corner of the restaurant. It was a small table and it meant that my legs were trapped between his under the table not that either of us minded that. We looked down the menu before ordering two cokes and some pasta. It reminded me of a film I used to love when I was little- the lady and the tramp. I was waiting for the violins and the plate of spaghetti to come out of the kitchen. I noticed Alex watching me and I smiled at him.

"What you thinking about?" I asked absently while I scanned the restaurant for Vlad. It shocked me when I noticed that he was not there.

"Nothing much. My head is full of you and those sexy green eyes. What about you?"

"We are alone." I smiled as I felt the freedom that came with being out on my own without Vlad.

Alex scanned the room and nodded. We were alone by ourselves for the first time ever. We smiled at each other and Alex leaned over to take my hand.

"Where do you reckon he is?"

"With Maria they are on a date. He really likes her."

"I know how he feels." Alex told me sincerely.

"Alex, are my eyes really sexy?" I asked and we both fell around laughing.


	10. Luck

**Sorry there is so much talking here and it is a pretty bad chapter but I wasn't really sure what was going to happen to this chapter. I know what's going to happen next though and it will get better.**

**9. Luck**

It was a sign of good luck. It had to be. The day after my perfect first date with Alex I was woken by the sun on my face. It was the first English sun I had seen since I got here. I looked at the clock. It was 11:34. I lay back and contemplated last nights date. It had been so perfect that I couldn't quite pick a favourite part of it. I stretched my arms out and smiled as I noticed the love bite on the palm of my hand. I ran a finger over it and smiled as I remembered the kisses that last night had bought. The sound of my phone beeping took me out of my daydreams. I picked it up and looked at the screen. 6 missed calls and 12 texts.

**6:04 pm **

**Good luck tonight babe. Lorie**

**11:35 pm**

**U said u would call when u got back 11. Lorie**

**11:40 pm**

**Come on I need da Goss. Lorie**

**11:42 pm**

**Jesus! What r u 2 up 2???? Lorie**

**11:48 pm**

**R u back yet???**

**11:55 pm**

**Can u get ur tongue out of his mouth and txt me. Lorie**

**12:01 am**

**Ur dad will b mad if u r not back yet. I am soooooo interested. Txt me**

**12:24 am**

**Going 2 bed call me tom. Early. Hope it went well. Xxx**

**9:54 am**

**Up. Call me. Now**

**10:04 am**

**How did it go??**

**10:23 am**

**A lesser girl would think u was avoiding her. But I will never give up. So call me!!!! Don't leave me in suspense any longer.**

**11:01 am**

**I am having withdrawal symptoms already. Can we meet up? Had fun last nite babe. Alex xxx**

He had fun! He called me babe! Three kisses! Missing me already! One very obsessive friend! I was in heaven. I was about to text Alex when I decided that I should call Lorie first because a) she had been waiting for hours and had left 11 texts and called me five times while Alex had text once and called once and b) it would give him time to sweat and think about what a great time last night had been. Lorie picked up on the second ring.

"About frigging time! I thought I had been ditched for Alex. So how was? It come on spill!"

"It was brilliant. Sorry I didn't get back to you last night I didn't get back till midnight and I was dog tired so I went straight to bed. I only just got up."

"Jesus! Is Alex still alive when he bought you back to your Dad at midnight?! What were you up to?"

"Alex walked me to the door but didn't come in for his own safety. I said I was tired and went straight to bed. I haven't had the argument yet but it will come soon enough." I sighed but even the argument hanging over my head couldn't spoil my mood after the date.

"So come on. What happened?"

"We went to see a movie and snogged all the way through it! Then we went for a meal at this cute little restaurant. After that we just walked round for a few hours together and sat in the park and just talked. It was really special."

"Man, you sound all loved up."

"I am."

"So how does the rider boy kiss?"

"I love it! He is so gentle and his lips are so soft!"

"Ok, Ok. I get it, Alex rider is perfect!"

"Sorry. I tend to go on a lot. How was your night?"

"Boring. Tom was at his Dad's place and I was all alone. Why do you think I texted you so much?"

Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Shit. The argument is coming sooner then I thought! Got to go. Bye."

"Good luck." The call ended just as my mum came into my room.

"You're up?" She looked angry.

"Yeah." I really was not sure what to say to her.

"How was your evening?" She asked coldly.

"Good." I answered just as coldly while praying she would not look at my hand which was lying on the bed sheet.

"You were out late."

"Yeah, I lost track of the time."

"You should have phoned. I was worried."

"I'm sorry but like I said I lost track of the time."

"Marks angry."

"Why?"

"You know what time you have to be back."

"What the hell is it to him?! I'm not his daughter!!" I screeched angrily.

"If you keep on like that young lady then you're grounded!" She threatened.

"Look I'm sorry but just look at how he acts! It was like Alex was under arrest yesterday. It was embarrassing! I don't expect to bring someone round and have Mark attack them like a red rag to a bull!"

"That's just what fathers do. They are over protective!"

"He's not my father!"

"Why do you two always do this? When ever there is an argument one of you always points out that you are not father and daughter. Do you know how that makes me feel? I hate it that you two can never forget Freddie Matthias because all I want to do his forget him."

"Forget everything that happened with him?"

"Exactly."

"Thanks mum."

"What?"

"You say you want us to forget Freddie but you never let us. Whenever there is an argument you always bring him up and how you constantly wish that everything that happened with him never did. What about me? Because I always get this vibe that you wish I had never been born!" I cried as I let the suppressed feelings out.

"Baby, don't say that!" she tried to hug me but I jumped out of bed and towards the door. I wasn't quick enough though. She managed to grab me and pull me into a tight embrace. I could hear her wailing sobs and realised just how much I had hurt her. But she hurts me. I told myself as I tried to harden my heart against her tears. Every time he was bought up I could feel her eyes on me and know what she was thinking- it would all be so easy if I was not alive. Had never been born. Maybe those twenty people would still be alive. "I love you so much baby. Don't you ever say I didn't want you. I love you with all my heart. Every moment of my life was worth it because of you. I would go through everything with Freddie again for you. I'm not saying that I don't wish that you were Mark's but that is only because it would be better for you. You wouldn't have the mafia after you and Mark loves you so much."

"Ok, Ok mum. I love you too." I told her grudgingly as I didn't think I could take much more of her tears.

"Promise." She asked me like I would when I was a child.

"I promise mum. Do us a favour?" I said deciding that this could swing in my favour.

"Yeah?"

"Can you talk to Mark and ask him to lay off Alex?"

"Already done it although if you want him to stay calm I would not get a love bite in such an obvious place." She told me with the humour returning to her eyes. It always surprised and annoyed me when she could see things so easily.

"Okay."

"And do me a favour?"

"What?"

"Be careful."

"Always am." When she left I grabbed my phone. I had left Alex to sweat for long enough. I was about to call him when my other phone rang. I sighed; Alex would just have to wait.

"Vlad?"

"Hello."

"Hi, what do you want?"

"That's nice. No pleasantries- is that how you say it? - Just what do I want. Well that's very nice!"

"Ok Vlad. God I can't do right for doing wrong today!"

"What's up?"

"Nothing much just the whole teenage daughter and mother arguing as per usual."

"How was your night?"

"Great."

"Is that all I get."

"It wasn't really your kind of night."

"Umm, Alex behaving himself?"

"Yes. How was Maria?"

"Good."

"That all I get?"

"It wasn't your kind of night."

"Yuk."

"Thanks."

"So what did you want?"

"I felt guilty for leaving you all alone last night with Alex."

"Don't worry Alex didn't bite. Well, he did but you really don't need to know that."

"I don't want to know. It's just that I wouldn't have left you but I wanted a normal night with Maria and I give you a normal night."

"Thanks. Look I have to go."

"Anywhere nice?"

"See Alex. Why don't you go and have fun with Maria?"

"Maria is at the door. Bye Jade. Have a good day."

"You too. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That leaves a lot open then." I was about to say something rude to him but he hung up. I smiled, with Maria in the picture Alex and I would be alone a lot more. That was good. I was beginning to like this feeling of freedom that other people enjoyed on a daily basis. I was about to hit the shower when my other phone rung. Who was it now?

"Hello."

"Hey babe." Alex's sexy voice filtered through the phone to me.

"Hey."

"Get my message?"

"Yeah, I was about to phone you several times but I kept getting phone calls and mum coming in."

"Oh god, I hope I didn't get you in too much trouble."

"No, I can work any situation to my advantage. And mum said he would talk to mark. What about Jack?"

"She had fallen asleep on the couch when I got in. So I told her I got in early."

"Lucky."

"Who was on the phone?"

"Lorie and Vlad."

"Vlad, what did he want?"

"To say sorry for leaving me with a vicious vampire." I laughed.

"Sorry about that." He said sheepishly.

"No, I liked it."

"So can we?"

"Can we do what?"

"Meet up."

"Yeah, Vlad is busy with Maria so we are all alone."

"Jack's out. You should come round."

"Sure, I'll be there in half an hour."

"Good, I love you jade."

"Say that again."

"I love you Jade."

"I love you too Alex soppy git Rider."

"You are so mean."

"I know I am."

"See you in half an hour."

"I'll be there."

"I love you." I told him before hanging up with a smile on my face.


	11. NOTICE

**IMPORTANT NOTICE!**

**FOR ANYONE WHO IS READING MY STORIES-I HAVE MY GERMANEXCHANGE PARTNER COMING ON THURSDAY 19****TH**** MARCH AND SO NO CHAPTERS WILL BE WRITTEN BEFORE SHE LEAVES ON FRIDAY WHICH MEANS THAT YOU WILL HEAR NOTHING UNTIL THE WEEKEND. SORRY FOR ANY INCONVIENIENCE BUT IT WILL HELP TO BUILD UP SUSPENSE. **


	12. Dare

**I know this chapter is crap and makes it look like I have no idea where this story is going but I do. And I was ill when I started it so cut me a bit of slack. Idril x**

**P.S I have changed all the crappy spelling on the previous chapters.**

**10. Dare.**

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and smiled at what I saw. My hair was pulled back from my face in a plait with a few glossy strands hanging loosely around my face; my face was slightly made up with some Smokey eyes and a small amount of lip gloss. I was wearing skinny black jeans and a pink jumper with high heeled boots on. I was about to leave when I remembered the promise I had made Alex at the football game. I opened my wardrobe and rummaged about the bottom of it where some clothes had fallen down. There at the bottom was the red cheerleading outfit that I had promised to show Alex. Shoving it in my bag I grabbed my phones off the side of the table, shouted goodbye to my mum and quickly ran out the door. Although it was sunny there was still a cold wind whipping my face as I walked the short distance to Alex's house. I rung the doorbell and took a step back to casually survey the road. I smiled as I saw that Vladimir had indeed kept his word and was with Maria.

"What you looking for?" Alex asked as he opened the front door.

"Just checking Vlad has kept his word and is with Maria."

"Has he?"

"Would I do this if he hadn't?" I asked as I leaned up and kissed his soft lips. He instantly responded and pulled me gently into the house.

"I've missed those lips." He whispered into my hair as we parted.

"Just think when you have to sit next to all day and not kiss me." I teased then I remembered what I had in my bag. "Wait there; I have a surprise for you." With that I ran up the stairs and into his bedroom. I quickly changed into the red dress. Not that you could call it a dress. It was more of a tight nylon vest with a belt. I took a quick look in the mirror and smiled as I saw that I didn't look too bad. I had never looked in a mirror while I was wearing it but now I did I could see its good points. The bright red complemented my tanned legs and the shortness showed off how curved they were.

"What the hell are you doing up there?!" Alex shouted up the stairs.

"Coming." I called before turning and walking down the stairs. He was leaning against the wall opposite the stairs and when he saw me his face was a picture.

"Jesus Christ!"

"You like?"

"I love. You are so sexy. Why the hell did you try and forget that?" He pulled me closer to him and kissed me lightly on my lips.

"Because I was always the ugly one on the side."

"You? Ugly? Jesus I have to go to Italy." I slapped him and he jumped back pretending to cower as I came at him. "Joke!"

"It wasn't funny." I pouted and he laughed.

"How can I make it up to you?" He asked as he tried to get closer to me but I moved backwards.

"I don't know." I told him but l stopped moving backwards and let him put his arms around me.

"I think I know." He whispered as he gently moved his lips across my throat and up towards my mouth while I stood stock still so he would know I was still annoyed with him. He laughed gently and started kissing my mouth as he tried to get a reaction from me. I was planning on making him wait for a bit but my mouth had other ideas and kissed him back. "I knew you would give in."

"Was I that obvious?"

"Yes. What shall we do today?"

"Why don't we go into the centre of London?" I offered.

"Yeah I can show you round. You should wear that."

"No."

"I dare you."

"Dare me?"

"Yeah. We should play dare."

"So what you dare me to wear this and I dare you to..."

"What ever you want me to do."

"Can I choose something when we're out?"

"Yeah. Deal?"

"Deal." I agreed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was pouring with rain as we ran along the road to Trafalgar square. We were heading for the national gallery for warmth when I stopped.

"Come on!" Alex called above the noise of the rain.

"Dance with me." I said.

"What?"

"Dance with me."

"Jade are you frigging kidding me? It's cold and wet!"

"I dare you to dance with me in the rain."

"I knew that would come back to haunt me."

"Come on. Live a bit."

"Ok." He agreed. I pulled him into the fountain and he swore.

"Live a little." I repeated. Before pulling him close to me and starting to dance. He joined in after a few seconds. We were laughing as people stopped and stared at us.

"I am living. Now that I have you I am living." He told me before pulling me against him= and kissing me. I thought we would be like this forever. So happy and carefree. If only I knew what I know now, then I would have been more careful.


	13. Nerves

**11. ** **Nerves.**

I wondered why I was so nervous. It was like my first day at Brookland all over again. And in a way it was. Soon everyone would know about Alex and me being an item. It felt odd that we had only been together for four days. It felt so much longer!

"Hair up or down?" I asked my sister who was sitting on my bed.

"Down it'll hide the vampire mark on your neck."

"Doesn't the make up cover it?" I asked horrified at the thought of everyone seeing the love bite on my neck despite the foundation and cover up.

"It only shows if you look close. Why don't you use a plaster like you did on your hand?"

"Way too obvious, Chris!"

"Why are you so nervous?" she asked and I hated to admit it but I was wondering the same thing. After all what they thought was nothing.

"I'm not."

"Liar." She had me there.

"I'll meet you downstairs." I told her and waited until she left to pull the mafia phone out of my pocket. I hadn't heard from Vlad since yesterday mourning and it was the longest we had gone without any form of communication. No messages. I phoned him but there was no answer from him. He must be with Maria. Ewww. I smiled as I left the room. It had come right for both of us at last.

Alex and I had agreed to meet outside his house and as I had expected he was stood waiting for me on the porch when I arrived.

"Hi. You vampire!"

"Vampire?"

"Do you know how much cover up is on my neck?"

"Sorry about that." He grinned at me and took my hand as we walked along the road.

"It's alright. I can't wait till the next time."

"You used to be such a good girl!"

"You used to be a good boy, hypocrite!"

"What do you reckon they will say at school?"

"Does it matter?"

"No. Nothing matters as long as I am with you."

"Ditto."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It took precisely two periods before everyone in our year knew that we were an item. They were all watching us and smiling as we laughed together at lunchtime.

"We are being watched." He whispered in my hair as he fondled it lovingly.

"Yep, apparently it is big news that we are together. They need a life."

"Yeah. I hate all the attention." I burst out laughing.

"James hates all the attention?"

"The only attention I want is from my Rider girl." That cracked me up and I had to hold my sides as I collapsed in giggles.

"Say that again."

"No."

"Please for your rider girl?"

"No, you are taking the piss."

"Pretty much but you love me."

"Do I?"

"Don't you?" I said doing my best pout.

"Don't do that it cracks me up! And of course I do!"

"Prove it." He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips.

"I love you."

"Love you more. Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not the rebound girl am I?"

"No, how can you think that. Sabina meant nothing to me. You mean everything! I can live without her. It would kill me to lose you."

"Really bec..." any more protests that were on my lips were halted by his lips on my. Soft, seductive and honest. The sounds of wolf whistling from behind us quickly evaporated and it was just us against the world. Which was just the way we liked it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What are we doing again?" Alex asked as he gave me a boost into Vlad's garden.

"I have to check he is alright. It has been over twenty four hours since I heard from him last and that is just not normal!" I was starting to get worried and he hadn't been at school. What had happened to him?

"Ok but hurry up." I jumped off the wall and ran to the back door. It led straight into the kitchen which was uncharacteristically messy with stuff everywhere.

"Vlad?" I called out. I heard a groan from the living room and opened the connecting door.

I will never forget what I saw when I opened that door...


	14. Last word

**I know this chapter is crappy and short but I was trying- probably failing- to built up suspense and disbelief.**

**12. Last word **

The living room had been turned upside down. The sofa had been thrown upside down and the TV had been broken. A photo frame thrown through the screen. Papers and photographs had been scattered around and the mirror above the mantle piece had been broken and the pieces were scattered around the room. Vlad was lying by the sofa. There was a pool of blood staining the carpet around him. I couldn't see the wound where all the blood was coming from but he had been beaten badly. _Please don't be dead_. Was the only thought that was going through my mind.

"Alex, call 999 now! Call an ambulance! Quick!" I screamed although how I managed to find my voice I will never know. I ran towards Vlad and sat down next to him. He was breathing shallowly but he was breathing. That was the main thing.

"I've called the ambulance, they will be here soon. But what the hell is going on!" he ran into the front room. He stopped dead when he saw what had happened.

"Vlad wake up, please, wake up." I whispered as I checked his pulse. "Alex, wait outside for the ambulance."

"But..."

"Just do it!" I snapped. He left and waited outside the front door. I sat there next to Vlad and wondered what had happened to him. He groaned and I looked up. I felt hope for a split second but then as he groaned a second time I saw blood flowing out of his mouth. He was going to die and there was nothing I or anyone else could do to save him. "Vlad, its ok. I'm here with you and everything will be ok. Who did this to you?"

There were tears clouding my vision and spilling down my cheeks. For a minute I didn't think he was going to answer but then he managed to get enough strength to open his mouth. I could tell by his face that he wasn't going to last much longer. That this would be his last word. It took him a while but finally he managed to say who had done it. And that word would change my life forever.

"Mark."


	15. Decision

**In this chapter I will also write from Alex's point of view. It will not be a regular occurrence but I feel that this bit needs to be seen from his point of view as well. **

**13. Decisions. **

He died shortly after. He never said another but he tried to give me a reassuring smile. I held him and gently sung him the Russian lullaby he had taught me years ago. I could hear the ambulance siren as it made his way down the street. They were too late to save him. He had been stabbed in the side by Mark. My step-father had murdered my friend in cold blood. Probably Blunt had ordered him to do it. I had a sense of déjà vu. Fifteen years ago David Matthias had sent his son to murder his fiancée's father to split them up. I had a feeling Blunt was pulling the same stunt. I stared down at Vlad and realised that I couldn't escape my fate and the more I tried the more people I bought down with me. So far twenty-one people had died because of me so far. Who would be next? My thoughts drifted to Alex. He would be next, I felt sure of it. I couldn't let him die because of me so I would just have to hurt him to keep him safe. My heart ripped at the thought of it but it was the only way to keep him safe.

I heard the ambulance stop and I realised that I had only a minute at most to pull off what I had to do. I left Vlad on the floor and ran upstairs. Lying in the bottom draw of his bedside cabinet was the package I was looking for. Inside was the bank account card that held my fortune. Five million exactly. Who said being a gangster didn't pay well. I heard movement downstairs and realised that the ambulance crew had come in the house. Hiding the package I ran down the stairs. Alex was stood watching as the two male paramedics gently covered Vladimir over. Alex tried to pull me into an embrace but I shrugged him off and put the package in my bag. One of the paramedics saw me and came over.

"You found him?" He enquired and I nodded. "Do you know his name?"

"Yes, it was Vladimir Joseph Saschtric."

"How did you know him?"

"He was my uncle. Uncle Vlad."

"Do you want to come to the hospital? The police will want to ask you some questions about what happened."

"Please can I just go home?" I begged.

"I'll look after her." Alex promised. Reluctantly the paramedic agreed to let us go after I had told him my address for the police investigation. The two of us watched as the ambulance drove away. There was no siren or blue light but then again this was hardly an emergency. There was nothing anyone could do for Vlad now. "Come on, I'll get you home. I wonder who did it."

"Mark. Vlad told me before he died. Mark killed him." Alex tried to hug me but I pulled away and started towards my house.

"Jade, I know this is hard but I can help." Alex tried again to comfort me but once again I pulled away. I took a deep breath, stealing myself for what I was about to do.

"How? What the hell do you know about anything? All you know is how to be used by MI6 like a complete idiot! You don't understand any of this because you don't have any parents! Then again I bet they are glad to be dead rather then have to live with a son like you!"

"YOU BITCH!" he screamed at me the pain in his voice cut my deep. "That's it we're over! I never want to see your face again!" with that he turned and ran up the road away from me. As soon as he was gone I collapsed in the middle of the road in floods of tears. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Somehow I managed to pull myself together and get down to the cash machine. I opened up the package and put the card in the slot. I entered the pin: 24/12 my birthday. I drew out a hundred pounds for myself and then the rest which I would half between Maria and Vlad's mother. Then I sat down on a nearby bench and penned four notes. The first was for Maria:

Dear Maria,

I am a friend of Vladimir's. I am so sorry for your loss. He was a great kind hearted man and he thought a lot of you. He would have wanted to provide for you and that is what this money is for.

I am so sorry,

Jade Dinah

The second was for his mother Ilea:

Dear Ilea,

My name is Jade Matthias and I am the little girl who he was in charge of looking after. I am sure by the time you read this letter you would have known about his death. I am so sorry about his death. I have sent you 2.5 million pounds which he wanted you to have to keep you so safe. I am so sorry,

Jade Matthias

The third letter was for David Matthias although I would have to send it to his business front in Nepal's. I wrote it all in Italian as his English was bad:

Godfather,

Mark Dinah killed Vladimir. Do what you want with this information.

Jade Matthias

The last letter was to my mother. It was only a line but there was really nothing more I could say to her.

Dear mum,

I am so sorry.

Jade

Xxx

I posted them all in a red post box before heading towards the tube station where I would catch a tube to Charing Cross. From there I would catch the train to Manchester. We had done some work on the city on the Friday Alex had been away. It would be the perfect place to start my new life where I couldn't hurt anyone anymore.

**Alex POV**

That bitch!! It was the only thing going around my head all the way home. When I had got in I had smashed up several plates and only stopped when my hand started bleeding. There were tears falling down my face and my whole body was shaking with grief. How could she? I had loved her, really loved her and this is how she had treated me. It suddenly hit me that maybe I had overreacted to what she had said. She was grieving for Vlad and she had just found out that her father had been the one wielding the knife. She needed to hit out at someone and I had been the only person around to hit out at. I wondered if she was alright. Maybe I should go and see her. I wondered how she would be able to live with Mark now. Then a dreadful thought hit me- what if she didn't live with him now?

I decided to do some of the copying up work I had to do to calm down. I picked up Jade's geography book and started copying out the work. It was all about Manchester and how many homeless children lived on the streets. Then it hit me like a bus. She was going tot Manchester! I had to stop her before I lost her forever! But where would she leave from- Victoria or Charing Cross? I had to try one as I had no time to try both. Charing Cross that was nearer. Please be there Jade. I ran for the tube and I was terribly aware of the time ticking away...


	16. Tick tock

**I think this is the last Alex point of view chapter. Just so you know.**

**14. Tick tock **

**Jade POV**

I had an hour to wait for the next train to Manchester that would take me away from this life. And Alex. I had to shake that thought off quickly before I started sobbing in the middle of the train station. I was sat in a corner of a small cafe cradling a cup of hot chocolate. I couldn't even allow myself to think about the last time I had had hot chocolate. I wondered if he would ever forgive me for what I had said to him. I had written a letter to him that would explain everything I had done and was planning on doing but I couldn't find a post box around and I really didn't want to post it from Manchester. I read it over one last time.

Dear Alex,

I am so so sorry for what I said to you. I didn't mean any of what I said. Your parents would be so proud of you and love you so much. And you're not an idiot you are the nicest, kindest boy I have ever met and I am so glad to have known you. The only reason I said those dreadful things was because I needed to get rid of you so that I could leave. I have to go because I can't stay around to hurt you and mum. Please forgive me but don't try to find me. Its better this way.

Jade

xxx

"Are you Ok?" I looked up to see a kindly old woman stood over me.

"Yes thank you." I answered although we both knew I was far from fine.

"Only you look very upset. Where is your mother?"

"Meeting me here in a minute." I told her but I was getting slightly irritated with this unneeded Good Samaritan. Then it struck me how she could be useful. "Would you do something for me?"

"Yes dear, what is it?"

"Could you post this letter for me?" She nodded and I handed it over. "Thank you." I smiled at her and drained my cup.

"Are you sure I can't do anything else?" She didn't seem to want to leave me. Irritating old bat.

"No thanks. Just make sure that letter gets to him."

"I will." With that I stood up and hid in a newsagent while I waited for the train to be called.

"The 19:09 train to Manchester is ready for boarding on platform 3; it will leave in ten minutes." Came the announcement over the intercom. I quickly headed for the platform; although I had ten minutes to get there I wanted to be in a seat as soon as possible. I would be out of here soon.

**Alex POV**

"Just give me a fucking ticket!" I screamed at the worker behind the glass.

"Sir, do you want me to call security?"

"No, I have to find my girlfriend! Here!" I shovelled all my money under the window. She took her time counting it before finally printing me a ticket.

"You have one minute before the train leaves but they started boarding about ten minutes ago. Have a good trip." She gave me a completely fake smile.

"Fuck you." I hissed before running towards the platform. I wasn't really watching where I was going and went straight into an elderly lady. She almost went over. "Sorry." I mumbled.

"That's ok."

"Have you seen a black haired girl anywhere?" I asked urgently.

"Yes. Are you Alex Rider?"

"Yes, what did she say?!"

"She gave me a letter for you." She handed me a brown envelope with my name and address printed on it. I ripped it open and quickly read it. "Are you ok?" she asked but I didn't answer. Instead I ran towards the platform where the train was waiting patiently.

I jumped threw an open carriage door just as the doors began closing. I was lucky I had a four hour journey to find her as the train was crowded with people. I had no luck in the first carriage or the second. The third was less crowded with only a couple of people in it. I was about to go straight through to the fourth carriage when I saw her. She was leaning against the window with tears falling down her face. I sat down next to her but she didn't look up. I gently touched her arm.

"What." She hissed and turned to give me a right mouthful when she realised who I was. "Al..."

"Its better _this _way." I gently grabbed her face and pulled her towards me although she didn't need much persuasion. "I love you."

"I love you too. I am so s..." but I stopped her with my lips.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does I said some horrible things about your parents."

"To keep me safe."

"Yes but..."

"No buts' just kiss me."

"I can do that." She smiled at me as I wiped her tears away with the back of my hand. She leant forward and we met in the middle. Her lips were smooth and soft just like they had always been. I never wanted to be away from her again. "Forgiven?"

"Nothing to forgive." We held each other as the train rushed off towards Manchester and I couldn't decide whether I wanted to ever come back again...


	17. My fault

**Sorry it has been so long. It won't happen again. LoL. I got a lot of this stuff from watching my cousin and his girlfriend at Easter- it was enough to make you sick. **

**15. My fault.**

I couldn't remember falling asleep but I must have. As I came to I felt Alex kissing my head and rocking me back and forth.

"Hey, sleepy." He smiled at me and I grinned back. I couldn't believe he had come to find me after everything that I had said.

"Alex I'm..."

"If you are about to say you're sorry, please don't."

"But I..."

"Jade. I don't care about that. All I care about is the fact that you are safe."

"I was scared that you would act the same way you did when Sabina left you. Not care." I kept my eyes focused on the floor while I voiced my secret fear- that our relationship (even though it had been short) would have meant nothing to him. He put his hand under my chin and lifted my face up to his.

"Sabina was Sabina. I liked her and everything but you. You are special. From the first time I saw you I knew there was something there between us. I can't lose you. I'll follow you to Manchester if I have to."

"You love me?"

"I love you. Doesn't this prove it?"

"It does. I love you too but you shouldn't come all the way to Manchester for me. You have a life in London."

"What life?"

"Jack, school." He was right. He didn't really have that much of a life.

"Yeah and Blunt always in the background. Maybe, you 're onto something with the new life idea."

"Maybe I am." I agreed. He kissed the top of my head and cradled my face against his chest.

"So Mark killed Vlad?"

"Yeah." I choked out. "I think Blunt made him do it."

"Sounds about right." Alex hissed, a cold edge had entered his voice and his whole body tensed. "He loves wrecking people's lives."

"Do you think he knew that Vladimir was working for my Grandfather?"

"Yeah I think he must have." Alex smiled sadly and kissed my forehead again.

"So it's my fault." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"No, it's not your fault. Blame you Grandfather, blame Blunt, blame Vladimir but don't blame yourself. You're innocent in all of this mess."

"Even if I'm innocent of Vlad's death then I'm still hurting my Mum but I can't go back. I can't live with Mark and its not fair breaking up there little family because of me."

"It's your family too."

"No, I never really belonged after Chrissie was born. She was their daughter and I was just the mafia bastard child."

"That makes you special."

"Special? You have a warped mind."

"I do." He agreed and pulled me gently against his chest.

"I love you."

"Love you more." I leaned up and kissed his lips. "Me and you, babe. We can make it."

"The next station is Manchester North. This will be the last stop." The mechanic voice announced.

"Are you ready for this?" Alex asked me.

"With you, I'm ready for anything."

"Come on then. First, we better do something about our appearance or we will not getting very far." I smiled as he started to form a plan for our escape in his head.

"Sounds like you have done this kind of thing before."

"Yeah, what can I say? Blunt comes in handy!" He laughed and pulled my stiff body up and into the throng of people trying to get off the train.

"I say we get our hair cut and maybe dye it. That sound okay to you?"

"Yeah. I've always wanted to go blonde." I laughed as he helped me off the train and towards the exit.

"We need to find somewhere low key to stay tonight. Maybe a hostel? No, that would be too obvious. The first place Blunt would look. Have you got any money- I have about twenty quid?"

"I have a couple of hundred." He looked at me with a shocked expression then grinned at me.

"That would work. We could find an out of the way hotel for the night. They won't reckon we have any money."

"How can you be so calm about all this?"

"Done it before although I must say not with someone quite so sexy."

"Thank you." I laughed and pulled myself closer to him as we came out into the open air.

"Come on let's buy a map from that stand..."

"Wait!!!"

"What?"

"Look!" I pulled him back inside the station where the huge screen on the wall was showing the late night news. The announcer was walking down my old street.

"In this quite street of Chelsea, London some dreadful deeds have happened all in one day. Firstly Mr. Vladimir Saschtric was viciously murdered in his own home." A picture of Vlad which I had taken when we were in Italy flicked onto the screen before going back to the reporter. "Not long after his death two teenagers - Alex Rider and Jade Dinah- disappeared. The paramedics said that they are the people who called the ambulance for Mr. Saschtric and although it has not been confirmed by the police it has been rumoured that they were somehow involved in his murder." We looked at each other in shock as a picture of us flicked onto the screen. A school picture of Alex in his uniform and one of me when I was on holiday in France. "The last piece of the Priola mystery is the latest death."

"There's been another murder?" Alex whispered.

"Mark Dinah was shot as he walked home from his job as a banker. But in an even more shock twist the mafia have taken credit for his death. We will keep you informed as new information comes to light. Until then it's back to the team in the studio."

"Jade, I'm so sorry." He tried to hug me but I pulled away.

"It's all my fault." I whispered before gratefully letting the darkness take me.


	18. Outlaws

**At last I have an idea where this story is going- only taken 16 chapters but whose counting!!**

**16. Outlaws**

"Jade?" Alex's concerned voice brought me out of the darkness and back into the bustling Manchester station. He had moved us into a quiet corner and we were shrouded in darkness. I tried to give him a reassuring smile but I could only manage a grimace. My head was lying in his lap and he had pulled our hoods up so our faces were hidden. "Are you ok?"

"It's my fault." Was all I could say. He pulled me into a sitting position and cupped my face in his hands.

"Jade, it's not." He leaned forward to kiss me but I moved my head out of grasp and started crying.

"It is. I told them, I told them that Mark had killed Vlad. I sent a letter to them."

"Jade, honey, a letter wouldn't have gotten to them for days."

"Then how...?"

"I don't know how but it wasn't your fault."

"Alex, why are you being so nice to me? I tell you I practically killed Mark and you still stand by me."

"The mafia have spies everywhere it wouldn't have been hard for them to learn that Mark was responsible for Vladimir's death. And you're never thinking clearly when you're in love." He kissed my cheek and pulled me up. "We have to get out of here before someone recognises us and we end up arrested."

"Do you think Blunt has put them up to it? Started the rumour to find us?"

"Sounds like it." Alex hissed, his voice taking on a hard edge that only came out when MI6 was the topic of conversation. He wrapped his arm around my body and pulled me close to his chest. Keeping our heads down, we hurried out of the station. We walked down a few streets with no real idea where we were going and too scared to ask for directions in case we were recognised. Suddenly, Alex pulled me down an alleyway and pushed me against the wall. I heard the sound of policemen walking past talking to each other. It felt like an age before they had moved off and my heart rate went back to normal. I looked up at Alex and saw the same desire burning in his eyes that I could feel in mine. I leaned up and pressed my lips against his. A small, insignificant part of my brain said that making out with Alex right here while we were being pursued by the law was a bad idea. The rest of my brain- and my lips for that matter- thought fuck it I love him and by the look of it making out wouldn't be on the top of our agenda from now on. I felt his tongue slide inside my mouth and his hands moved over my body restlessly. I pulled him close against me and tried to memorise every part of this moment.

"We should go." Alex whispered after pulling away from me.

"Where do we go?" I asked and suddenly I felt so scared about what our uncertain future held.

"We have to think this through." He muttered and started pacing the alleyway. "We have to change. We need to have different hair styles and colours, different clothes and we need to get out of Manchester."

"Sounds easy." I muttered sarcastically. Alex began formulating a plan as we walked along trying to find a hideaway. In the end we decided to use a public toilet. There were no women in it so we locked the door and set up camp. Our plan was simple- Alex would go and get some hair dye and new clothes while I waited here and did nothing. It wasn't my idea but Alex thought it was best if I kept a low profile. After that we would get out of Manchester and never be seen again. In theory it was simple but in practice it was a lot harder. I tried to keep cool but every noise from the other side of the door made me jump six feet in the air. Alex had been gone for almost twenty minutes when someone tried to get into the toilet.

"Aww, come on! Open up!" Some drunken woman called from the other side before moving off to find another on. It was one of those times when I feared that Freddie would somehow teleport through the door and come get me. I was shaking violently and tears were flowing uncontrollably down my face. Someone banged on the door and I screamed. He'd found me!

"Jade, it's ok, it's me!" Alex called and I slowly walked over to the door before unlocking it. Alex pushed through, obviously called from the rain that had started falling. He turned to look at me and his face fell when he saw the state I was in. "Jade, its ok!"

"I know! I was just being silly." I told him in-between weeping. He pulled me into his arms and held me while I wept. I felt instantly better from being in his arms and soon I was just faking my tears so that he kept his arms around me.

"Are you ok, now?" I nodded and we set to work. Firstly Alex dyed my hair a mousy brown colour before cutting it into a messy bob around my face. But I got my own back when I was my turn to play hairdresser by dying his hair a darker blonde and cutting it short.

"Neither of us should ever become hair dressers." I surmised as we looked one another over.

"Well they won't recognise us."

"Come on let's get changed and go." This deserted bathroom was starting to give me the creeps. Alex pulled his top off and went to grab one of the ones he'd bought earlier. I gasped in horror at the scar on his chest where the assassin's bullet had hit him.

"It's not as bad as it looks." He promised. I moved towards him and kissed the scar gently. His arms wrapped around me as he kissed my hair. I leaned up to reach his lips and kissed him as he pushed me against the wall. I could feel his hands under my top as he tried to pull it off. I ran my hand along his bare muscular chest. We were fast losing all sense of where we were and what was going on as we succumbed to lust. Alex groaned at the sight of my bare chest and kissed me harder as his hands ran feverishly across my body.

"Damn the fucking door's locked!" someone on the other side of the door shouted in anger. Both of us groaned as the spell was broken. We couldn't do it here, not with all this danger and distraction. We stayed wrapped up in each other for a long time before finally moving back to dressing.

"We should get to the station before the whole of the secret service get there looking for us." Alex said as we hurried back to the station. We both stopped and stared in disbelief at what was waiting for us at the station. About a hundred secret service men stood between us and safety.


	19. NOTE

Sorry it has been so long but I have been on holiday to Cornwall with angel of apathy and it was amazing! It has also given me lots of inspiration for my stories and even an idea for a new one! Also just a quick warning, in September I am starting that lovely thing called GCSE's (cry) which means I actually have to do some work so there will be less frequent updates but don't worry I will finish them all. I really appreciate all the lovely reviews you guys give me and a huge thank you to everyone who has voted as I appreciate the help and it will come in handy. So to make up for the lack of updates here is a preview of the next chapters:

**Dangerous games: **

Sorry that it has been so long but the chapter I am writing is giving me serious writers block (seriously not helped by me accidently deleting what I had written). I know what is going to happen in the ones after and I am happy to inform you that there will be a sequel! To make up for the delay in the update I have updated the summary which has some spoilers in it which I think you will enjoy! In the next chapter the Whitlock's will finally change into vampires and Clara falls in love with Paul.

**Back then:**

Sorry again about the delay but I have half the chapter written already this means that it won't be too long before it is up. In this one Alex and Jade have a race against time to get out of Manchester while they're being pursued by not only MI6 but also the mafia who are desperate to save Jade from the clutches of MI6.

**The Osirens:**

Yeah, this ones kind of been forgotten but I will do another chapter and if people like that then I will continue and if not then I'll give up on it, so if you like this story then please review. In the next chapter Lexi will meet a mysterious stranger in the woods but is he all that he seems?

**Happily ever after:**

This has to be my favourite story, and not just because it has Jacob in.i am so gratefull for all the support and reviews I get. So you lot are used to having seriously frequent updates, in the next chapter Callie and Embry sort out their differences and Callie and Jake get closer.

**Alice's new dawn:**

Loving the support this story is getting and I'm glad you're enjoying it. Molly goes to see her mother and is shocked by the state she is in. We find out more about Molly's past and why she hates her mother.

**Healing the hurt:**

Ashley and Owen escape on holiday to Spain before reluctantly heading back to cola club to meet the colas.

**The revenge (new one!): **

A new Harry Potter fan fiction and the first chapter should be up now. It is set after Serrius' death, with the death eaters after his muggle daughter, Lottie, Dumbledore takes her to Hogwarts to keep her safe.


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